C ONCEPT -D RIVEN C URRICULUM Or…So what? Jean Donham, Ph. D. Associate Professor University of Northern Iowa

G UIDING QUESTIONS How does concept-based instruction differ from content-based instruction? What kinds of essential questions emerge from the information literacy standards? What is the relationship between concept-based instruction (Erickson) and essential questions (Wiggins and McTighe)? What are the essential questions of the library curriculum? Does thinking about them matter?

S OURCES Erickson, H. Lynn. Stirring the head, heart, and soul. Corwin Press, Loertscher, D. V. Koechlin, C, & Zwaan, S. The big think. Hi willow Press, McTighe, Jay and Wiggins, Grant. Understanding by design professional development workbook. ASCD, 2004 Taba, Hilda. Curriculum development; theory and practice.Harcourt, Brace & world, 1962.

Does the “enduring understanding” or the “big idea” change?

Does the “enduring understanding” or “big idea” change?

C ONCEPTS ARE Broad and abstract Universal in application Timeless—carries through the ages Represented by different examples that share common attributes

E XAMPLES OF CONCEPTS : Change System Culture Organism Migration Conflict Interdependence Justice Interaction Scarcity

W HICH OF THESE ARE CONCEPTS ? Conflict Animals of Africa Revolution Family China

T OPIC VERSUS C ONCEPT Topic (The Pilgrims) Frames a set of facts Maintains lower-level thinking--remembering/ understanding Short-term utility--to cover an event, issue or set of facts Increases an overloaded curriculum Concept (Immigration) Provide a mental schema for categorizing common examples Lead to higher level thinking Serve as a tool for processing “ life events ” Reduce curriculum overload by framing the most salient or critical examples of the concept

GUIDING QUESTIONS—AN INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO OBJECTIVES Pilgrims Where/when did the Pilgrims land? Why did they come to America? Who were their leaders? What customs, skills, ideas did they bring? What was their life like? Immigration When and why have immigrants come to America? What customs, skills, ideas did they bring? How did their lives change?

T OPIC C ONCEPT Dinosaurs Cinderella Stories Primary Sources Wikis Spiders Transportation States Japanese Internment Native Americans

O VERARCHING E SSENTIAL Q UESTIONS not usually answered within a lesson or perhaps a unit—they persist over time conceptual pillars that make a program coherent the essence of a discipline

THE LIBRARY CURRICULUM’S OVERARCHING ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS In what ways is reading a window to the world and in what ways is it a mirror? In what ways does the inquiry process lead us to new understandings and insights? Who owns information? How can technology enhance understanding? Why is information important for citizenship in a democracy? How is information organized? How do we know what information sources to trust? How can knowledge be shared? What is the value of a library? Others?

GUIDING QUESTIONS An inquiry-based approach to objectives Engage students in a question Help students think beyond facts toward concepts, generalizations and principles Pique curiosity Encourage students to look for patterns Support inductive learning

GUIDING QUESTIONS ObjectivesGuiding Questions Identify the early Native American tribes in America Why were indigenous peoples referred to as Native Americans Describe their housingHow do people meet basic needs? Are some needs more basic that others? Match the artifacts in the illustration with the correct tribe How can artifacts tell a story? Would it be possible to wrongly interpret a story from artifacts?

GUIDING QUESTIONS IN OUR CURRICULUM How do I judge information sources? How do criteria for judging information sources vary depending on my research question? How is my choice of sources influenced by the “flow of information”? Do all cultures respect the principle of intellectual property? What is the value of reading historical fiction for understanding history?

B ACKWARD DESIGN 3. If the desired result is that students understand or are able to … 2. then we need evidence of the students ability to… 1. then the learning activities need to …

B ACKWARD DESIGN 3. Students will be able to extract information from an article without copying the author’s words 2. then we need evidence of the students ability to paraphrase/take notes 1. then the learning activities need to be modeling paraphrasing guided practice

TRY YOUR HAND… Select a an essential concept from the Iowa Core Curriculum in Social Studies where there could be a library-related assignment taught Use the template to design an information literacy “chunk ” of instruction to integrate with instruction for that benchmark.